Key takeaways from President Xi's speech in his first ever appearance at the World AI Conference in Shanghai:

• Started the speech by referring to his signature maxim, "great changes unseen in a century are unfolding across the world"
• Said that the world has "entered an unprecedented period of active innovation on AI technology", which means "great opportunities as well as challenges for governance”
• reaffirmed commitment to open source to promote AI "openness and win-win"
• warns against "over stretching" the concept of national security as applied to AI where one country's national security is prioritised over others
• China opposes emergence of “new historical injustices” in AI (one of the most strongly worded parts of the speech)
• China in next 5 years will provide 5000 opportunities to developing countries in "AI training and seminar programmes" and "cooperation centres" - names ASEAN, League of Arab States, African Union, CELAC, SCO and BRICS

Full text: Keynote speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping at opening ceremony of 2026 World AI Conference

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance held here on Friday.

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